Lift Him Up

Introduction

If you’re here this morning because you found our website, through that website, have seen YouTube videos of a young, good looking preacher who’s a talented speaker. Right now you’re thinking, those are good special effects. Greg, my co-worker, is sick this morning, and so I’ll be speaking in his absence. He thought maybe he could make it as getting a little bit better, but uh he thought better of that. And so let’s think of Greg in our prayers and those others who aren’t able to be with us here this morning. You know, there’s three different types of people in the world. Three different types of people those that are good at math and those that aren’t. Took some of you a little while on that. No, really, there’s two types of people in the world.

Two types of people. There are those people who, when they find something they like, they want to keep it to themselves. Maybe it’s a new flavor of ice cream. It’s the best you’ve ever had. And so you hide it in the freezer behind the Brussels sprouts where nobody will find it. But there’s another type of person, that’s the person that finds something they like and they want everybody to experience it. And they’re willing to share that with friends, family, and even strangers. You’ve got to try this ice cream here. And I know you to be that latter type. You’re not selfish with the blessings that God has given you. You want to share those. Particularly the gospel. You found the gospel to be the saving power in your life.

You’ve seen what it’s done for you in such a transformative way. And you want others to experience that as well. Friends, family members, and complete strangers. You want to share the gospel with them. The more, the merrier. But how do you do that? And as a congregation together with those who have pulled their resources and their energies to glorify God and to spread his word, we think what’s the most effective way that we can do that. We want to reach the lost. The more, the merrier. But how do we do that? Turn with me, if you will, in the Gospel of John chapter 12. John chapter 12. Jesus gives us the simple formula. The only formula that we need.

1. If I Be Lifted Up, I Will Draw All

In the midst of that prophecy of his death, Jesus makes this statement in John chapter 12, verse 32. And I, if I am lifted from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. The Holy Spirit, through John, adds this explanation in verse 33. This he said, signifying by what death he would die. If I be lifted up from the earth, signifying the type of death, a death on the cross. Jesus said, when that happens, I will draw all to myself. There’s the formula. Jesus says it will be the cross that will draw people. And so we found salvation through that cross, through the death, burial, and resurrection, through the blood of Christ, our sins have been washed away. And we want to share that with others.

How do we do it? Jesus would simply have us to say, hide behind the cross.

We preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The apostle Paul would later say, that’s foolishness to those of the world. But to those of us who believe it is the power of God unto salvation. This morning I’d like for us to talk about the methods that we use to draw people to Jesus. And I want us to peel away all of the attempts that are made by people of the world, by even churches of the world, and for us to focus upon Jesus’ formula. If I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all peoples to myself. See, what Jesus was doing is he was telling people how he would draw souls to himself. The cross. We reference this, but go with me to the book of 1 Corinthians.

2. Jesus Christ and Him Crucified

The Apostle Paul would say that that method, the cross, as a draw to people, is not a method that’s going to draw all people. But it’s going to draw those whom God intends to draw. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 1, the Apostle Paul said, and I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Some have misread or misunderstood what Paul is saying there. Paul is not saying and apologizing, well, I’m a poor public speaker.

My speech and my wisdom, they’re not that good. That’s not what Paul is saying. Paul is saying, I determined, I intentionally came to you, not in the worldly means. The first century world, this Roman and more specifically Greek culture in which Paul was preaching the gospel, was one that valued wisdom and oratory. The boys of that day did not trade baseball cards. They traded philosopher cards. I’ll give you two play thousands for a Socrates. That’s the people they looked up to. That were their heroes. These men who would spout wisdom and great oratory. We see that when Paul would go to Athens and other places, they just love to feel an entire stadium just to listen to someone give a speech. And you could draw a crowd that way.

But Paul says, when I came to you, I determined not to use human wisdom. I came preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified. And he tells us why. Did you catch that? 1 Corinthians 2, verse 5. So that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul said, I wanted to draw people to Jesus, and so what did I do? I preached Jesus. It seems like a simple formula, doesn’t it? But it’s the formula that Christ gave us. If I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all peoples to myself. And so the apostles and the evangelists in the New Testament did just that. It’s rather a simple approach. When you look throughout the book of Acts, through the epistles, of what did they do to draw people?

3. They Preached the Lord Jesus

There were different means, different techniques that could have been employed, but what they did is they did what Jesus said he did. They spoke of the cross as the drawing power of Jesus. Look over in Acts chapter 11. What did they use to draw people? First century preaching was rather simple. They simply preached Jesus and him crucified. In Acts chapter 11, we have an interesting account of the apostle preaching the gospel. And I want to just highlight a few phrases in this section. The section begins in Acts chapter 11, verse 19. It says, when those were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. The Gentiles will come later.

But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, now here’s what they’re doing. Let’s follow the formula. What did they do to draw people to Jesus? They came to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And so what happened? Verse 21, the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Verse 23, skip ahead. When he came and seen the grace of God, this is Barnabas, he was glad and encouraged them with purpose of heart that they should continue with the Lord. Verse 24, for he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord. Do you see the emphasis there in the preaching of the gospel in Antioch?

They preached the Lord, they encourage them to obey the Lord, and they came to the Lord. It’s pretty simple if you think about it. What did they do to draw people to Christ? If I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all peoples to myself. And so what should our approach be? You know, if we’re not careful, if we’re not careful, we get to focusing upon the wrong results. And we can get together in some room somewhere and say, you know, people just don’t want to hear that simple message of the cross anymore. If we could do something else, we could entice a larger audience. People are more entertainment driven today. And so if we can offer some form of entertainment. Our people are really concerned about recreation, activities for themselves, and particularly maybe for their children.

If we can offer those broader types of activities that would really, that would interest people. And as we’re sitting in that boardroom discussing what we could do to maybe draw the masses. Feiner and fainer are the words of Christ. If I be lifted up from the earth, I’ll draw all peoples to myself. So this morning’s lesson is simply a lesson of encouragement for us to follow that simple formula. To preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It’ll still be foolishness to some.

4. Resolve and Don’t Be Embarrassed by the Formula

And so let’s do a few things this morning. Number one, let’s resolve that that’s what we’re going to do. That we’re not going to prop up the message with some carnal means by other things that might attract greater crowds, that might be of more interest, that might seem more flashy and entertaining. Let’s just determine within ourselves to follow that simple formula. And then secondly, let’s not be embarrassed by that simple formula. People find out you go to church, I know people find out that I’m a preacher. They many times will ask, particularly if they’re parents or have a family, well, what do you offer the young people? Well, I know what that question means. If their children are young enough, they mean, do you have a daycare where I can drop them off and let them be your problem instead of mine?

Secondly, if they have older, like teenagers, preteens, and that, do you have some kind of activities, like a movie night or some kind of trip that you’ll take with some kind of entertainment or recreation that you can. And I used to be taken aback by that question. What do you have for the young people? And if I’m honest, I was sometimes a little bit embarrassed when I would kind of kick the ground and look down and say, well, nothing. Because I was answering the question as they were asking it. Because so many times they meant. Recreation, entertainment. But it’s time that we quit being embarrassed.

And it’s time when someone says, for example, what do you have for young people?

Without equivocation, without hesitation, and without any embarrassment to say we have the word of God. That’s what they need. We have Bible classes for all ages. That’s not a filler because we’re embarrassed that we don’t have those other things. That’s what we have. Because that’s what they need. We have Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So that your faith might not be in the power, the wisdom of men, but in Christ. And Him crucified. Turn with me to the book of 1 John, chapter 4. As you’re turning to 1 John chapter 4, I would remind you that the Apostle Paul, who said, I determined not to preach anything to you but Christ and Him crucified, often referred to this message with words like simplicity. Simplicity. It’s Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

5. We Are of God

And Paul would not alter that message to suit his audience. In fact, he stubbornly refused to do so. And he would condemn those who in the book of Galatians he referred to as preaching another gospel. John had that same resolve. In 1 John chapter 4, start with me in verse 1, where he says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. John issues this warning. Not everybody. Not everybody who is preaching is preaching the truth. Many false prophets have gone out. So test those spirits. Test them. Today we would do that by testing them, holding them up next to the Word of God. Is what you’re saying, what this is saying.

Is your formula Christ, simple formula? Test those spirits. By this verse 2, you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. In John’s day, there were some, believe it or not, who were preaching that Jesus was not the Christ. John says, if they say that, they’re not of God. Reject them. They’re false prophets. In fact, he goes on to say, this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you’ve heard was coming and is now already in the world. This is the message he says. There’s a false message going out. Not everybody who stands up in the pulpit, wears a suit and tie, even holds a Bible, is preaching the truth.

John says, test them. But now it’s interesting what he says after that. Look in verse 4 of 1 John 4. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them. Because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They, speaking of those false prophets, they are of the world. Therefore, they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. Do you see the distinction he’s making? Those false prophets, they may get a following. In fact, they may get a following bigger than those who speak the truth. Why? Because they speak as of the world, and the world will hear them. Verse 6.

He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. I want to be very careful in this section of the sermon. I don’t mean this in some kind of arrogant, egotistical. And not necessarily even in an exclusive way.

But John says there are people preaching a different message, using a different method.

But we are of God. If we want a slogan, if we want a motto, let it be that. We are of God. Now it’ll bear some explanation. But when someone asks you, well, why don’t y’all do this? There’s the answer. We are of God. Again, that may come across as egotistical and be misunderstood, so it’ll need some explanation, but we are of God. We must do things God’s way. Why don’t you? You see these other churches doing that, and man, they’re they’re we are of God. They are of the world, therefore the world hears them. We are of God, John says, and he who knows God hears us.

6. Carnal Methods: Three Things Wrong

People just don’t seem to be interested in the gospel like they used to be. And so maybe we need to do something. Maybe we need to use some other methods, and we’ll get them in with something else, and while they’re here, then we can kind of we’ll teach the gospel. I’m going to issue this warning based upon this section of John, where John says they are of the world, the world will hear them. We are of God. He who fears God will hear us. I want you to realize that when we use carnal methods to attract people, we’re doing at least three things wrong. Number one, we’re just doing the wrong thing. That’s step one. God says, do something and tells us how to do it.

That kind of ends the discussion, doesn’t it? What’s a parent’s favorite come back to the question, why? Because I said so.

If anybody could ever utter those words with profound meaning, it’s our creator. It makes a difference what we do and why we do it and how we do it. And so why do we not? Because God didn’t tell us to do that. In fact, go to the book of Ephesians, chapter 4.

In talking about this body and the work that it has been given to do, notice these words of the apostle Paul by inspiration, Ephesians 4, verse 11, and he himself, speaking of Jesus Christ, who has ascended into the to the Father and has given us gifts. He himself, Ephesians 4, verse 11, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Do you see what he’s saying there? God, Jesus, through God has equipped us for the work. And how did he equip us? By giving us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. What are all of those offices, what all those works have in common?

A spiritual word-based focus. The equipment we’ve been given implies the work we’ve been given to do. He gave us spiritual tasks. And therefore equipped us for a spiritual work. And so when we use carnal methods, or we tempted to use carnal methods, we’re just doing the wrong thing. And we may be drawing people to the wrong thing. What are we saying about the gospel? What are we saying about the cross when we say you’ve got to do something else to get people in the pews? Years ago when we lived in the Birmingham area, they had at the Civic Center, they had this home and garden show. You ever going to one of those? Will you pay money to go and look at all of this nice, fancy stuff that you can’t afford for your house.

We went to one of those home and garden shows on the first level of the Civic Center was all that kind of thing. On the second level was the people selling stuff. And I was walking through, and there was one man there, and he called me over. He was good at his job. He was a salesman. He called me over. He said, Hey, hey, hey, come look at this. And he was selling these wire strippers. And they were just real handy little, you don’t have to, you just punch this little button and it just strips any size of wire. He had rolls of wire in every gauge possible. And he was just pushing that trigger and just stripping those wires off. I have to admit it was pretty impressive.

And he said, Don’t you want to buy one of these? 995. And I said, No, no, I don’t need those. I prefer to use a pocket knife and cut my finger when I’m stripping wire. And so I started to walk away, and he said, Oh, oh no, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. And he reached under the counter and he said, Today only, you’ve heard that before, haven’t you? Today only for 995, I’ll give you two. And I said, Fellow, if I didn’t need one, I sure don’t need two. And I started to walk away again. He said, Oh, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. He said, for this show and only for this show, for that same price, and he reached down and he pulled out a set of steak knives.

If you’ll buy the one wire stripper, I’ll give you two wire strippers for the same price and this set of steak knives. No. Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. If my boss finds out I’m doing this, he’ll and he reached under, and he said, Today and today only, if you’ll do that, I’ve got this special cleaner. It cleans anything. And he just kept pulling stuff out from under that table until his table was full. And he didn’t know he had done this. But by the time he was through, all of that extra stuff, you couldn’t even see the wire strippers anymore. And you know what that told me? There’s a man who doesn’t have confidence in his product. That he had to prop it up and cover it up with everything else.

Why would Paul say, When I came to Corinth, I determined not to know anything but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Because that’s the same man that said, I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t augment, we don’t prop up, disguise the gospel message, because Jesus said it’s enough. Lastly, and this is the most uncomfortable point of all, that when we use carnal methods to try to draw people, we’re doing the wrong thing. We’re probably drawing them to the wrong thing. And we may be drawing the wrong people. Now that’s not fun to say. But John said of those false prophets, they’re of the world. Therefore the world hears them. We are of God.

He who fears God hears us. John said, I’m going to preach this message because I’m trying to draw those people that will be drawn to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We talked this morning in our Bible class here in the auditorium in the Gospel of Mark about Jesus’ use of parables. We many times think Jesus used parables to make the message simpler. Jesus said just the opposite. I’m talking in parables so that those who see do not perceive, and those that hear will not understand. Jesus said sometimes the gospel message is a filter.

That he’s drawing those with a good and honest heart, those who are truly seeking salvation from their sin. Not those who are seeking to be entertained by a seven-person band, not those that are looking for an outlet for their sports-driven personalities. Not those who are looking to have their bellies filled, but those that are looking to have their hearts filled. Because we are of God. And we recognize that all of those secular carnal things we can do without Jesus Christ. But Jesus came to die upon that cross to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. And that is to offer us salvation through his blood. It’s a simple message. And from now on, at least, we make no apology for its simplicity. Do you need to become a Christian this morning?

Conclusion

Believe. Without faith, it’s impossible to be well pleasing unto God. Repent of your sins. Confess your faith. Don’t be ashamed of Him. Confess your faith before men, and this morning be baptized for the remission of your sins. Why do we say that? Why do we emphasize those things? Why do we emphasize baptism for the remission of sins? Again, not egotistical, not arrogant, but we preach that message because we are of God. And that’s the message of the gospel. If you would respond to it this morning, if you love God, if you hear God and fear God, hear that message and respond this morning. Can we help you any spiritual way? Why not come? Right now. Together we stand and sing.